


I'll Go The Height With You

by witchofpeachan



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dates, Established Relationship, M/M, Prompt Challenge, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 09:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchofpeachan/pseuds/witchofpeachan
Summary: When it's a nice, warm summer day, Tony decides he needs to take Steve on a specific type of date. Steve's only a little nervous about it.





	I'll Go The Height With You

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for a tumblr prompt fill for 75 date ideas! Twentylifetimes asked for #74 Hot air Balloon date.

“C’mon they don’t take you that high. This’ll be fun!”

“I don’t know..”

“You’ve been higher before!”

“This is a little bit different, Tony..”

Steve looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand as he did, even though his glasses were on top of his head. He squinted above them and watched the balloons float around in the air. 

They weren’t really free, of course. Each one was kept on the ground with an anchor - until they took off. He frowned at the idea until he saw a hand at the corner of his eye and his sunglasses dropped back down to his nose, distracting him. Beside him, Tony dropped his hand back in the pockets of his trousers, looking a little smug with himself.

“Technically these are probably safer than the Quinjet or the helicarrier. Definitely no chance of going down because of some crazy terrorist attack or aliens.” He pointed out, watching Steve over the rims of his own sunglasses as the other finally dropped his hand to his side. “I still don’t know why you’re so nervous about this.”

“It just doesn’t look that safe.” He pointed out, worried; he thought he was completely logical in his thinking. They were, essentially, giant bags tied to picnic baskets and an open flame. Beside him, Tony took a step forward and tilted his head to the side.

“If it makes you feel any better I’ll take you up in Iron Man?” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and held his arms out in front, “Like a princess?” Steve frowned and sighed through his nose, shoulders sagging.

“Only for you to drop back in the basket - I think that would be worse.”

“You’re right, Iron Man wouldn’t fit very well.” Steve couldn’t help but laugh under his breath, mouth twitching into a small smile as he looked towards the other. When their eyes met, Tony was grinning; behind the sunglasses, his eyes lit up with something Steve didn’t understand immediately, but he felt the tingling in his cheeks anyway. “I think you’ll like it when you’re actually in the basket, Cap.” 

“You sure you haven’t been in one of these before?” He asked when Tony spun around on his heels to lead him away from the parking lot and towards the fields of color in front of them. The day was warm and there was barely a cloud above them; each vibrant color of the balloons around them stood out against the skyline. 

It was still early, but a good handful of families still meandered around in the grass and towards the balloons; children bounced around their parents and cheered as they ran into the baskets and hopped excitedly for it to lift off the ground. At the thought, Steve felt a little knot of anxiety twist in his stomach and he swallowed. 

“I have not.” Tony enunciated each syllable and slowed down to step beside him, eyeing Steve behind the shield of his sunglasses. Steve met his eye and Tony gave him another little smile, clearly amused. Then there was a moment of pause when the older man’s features softened before he spoke. “You’re really nervous about this, aren’t you?” He asked, as if it wasn’t obvious on the soldier's face. His voice was soft and Steve took an extra second to stare at him before his head bobbed into a small, slow nod.

“Yeah. I am.” The words came out as if he was admitting it for the first time, like he was guilty about it. But he’d been convinced to go all the way there. And like Tony said, it was highly unlikely some sort of heinous attack would happen. There was just no point. He stood straight when he felt a hand press gently against his lower back; he turned to look beside him. 

Not that he expected to see Tony with an ounce of visible guilt on his face, he could practically feel it radiating off him. The other man smiled up at the blonde, mouth tilted in a half smile as his hand slowly travelled up his spine and under his light jacket. The touch helped him relax, he let his weight fall to his heels as he leaned against Tony’s hand. 

“We can honestly just turn around and go back. I don’t mind.” And he definitely sounded like he didn’t to Steve - because he didn’t mind. “You don’t have to go up there, I won’t make you.” He paused for a second, then tilted his head and added with something teasing in his voice. “I want to, really, if only because I know you’ll be holding onto me for comfort and I know that’ll be fun.” Steve laughed again and visually made a show of weighing his options.

“You know, I was thinking on doing that from down here, but it just wouldn’t have the same effect..” Tony’s hand slipped down off his back and Steve caught it in his hand to squeeze the other man’s fingers, and then Tony laughed.

“No, it wouldn’t. You’re right. Especially if word gets out that America’s Stud Muffin is afraid of some rowdy kids.” With his free hand, Tony gestured towards a particular family that let their children run freely throughout the field, one of them looked like they were trying to tear the door off one of the baskets. 

Steve made a mental note to steer Tony clear of that one. Just in case.

Before Steve found finish laughing, they were walking again, and they were going towards the opposite direction of that balloon (to Steve’s utter relief). Tony continued, “To be fair, though, some kids can be a lot scarier than these things.” He gestured to the balloon closest to them; Steve couldn’t help but notice it’s decorated colors of red, white, and blue - and was incredibly spangly. When that caught his attention, he looked back towards Tony quickly, who was grinning with two rows of teeth. 

“Wha -- Tony!” And they were both laughing, Steve in disbelief and Tony was losing himself to a smug cackling. “Are you for real?” 

“What, I thought you liked Patriotism and red, white, and blue?” Clearly, Tony was having a blast and Steve didn’t think it had anything more to do with the balloon itself, and more with the red flush of embarrassment on his own face. In front of them and around the basket to that particular balloon, a group of workers were getting it ready to fly - checking the weights, the basket, the balloon to make sure it wasn’t torn, the flame which hadn’t reached its’ full ignition yet. One of them turned around, noticing their approach, and nearly dropped the length of rope in his hands. 

“Holy shit is that Cap and Iron Man?” 

“What? Really?”

“Wait, is Stark the guy that called for this??”

“No way!! -- Oh his name’s on it, dumbass, how’d you not know?” 

Their voices were hushed quickly as they got closer, but Steve heard them from the distance they were at. He could only guess that Tony could, too, when the other composed himself to stand a little straighter. All of the workers openly stared at the two as they approached and Steve found himself getting a little antsy under the scrutiny. They all stopped when one of them fumbled with the papers in her hand.

“Mister Stark! Good Morning!” Her face was red, even under the brim of her visor. “Thank you for choosing Premier Heights for your flight today. It’s just going to be a few more minutes until we can get you on.” Tony held up his free hand and gestured to Steve at his side.

“Probably going to need a few more minutes anyway to get Cap here to stay put and fly with me, anyway.” When he said that, three of the workers looked up from where they were, making sure the whole system was flight ready, to stare at the two Avengers, eyes as wide as saucers.

That’s when Steve Rogers notice Tony Stark never let go of his hand from a few minutes before. 

“Tony..” He started, cautious. Maybe he hadn’t noticed they were still holding hands? The two of them hadn’t talked about any public appearance yet - not at length. Tony briefly mentioned his public dating history - Pepper and a string of one night stands and affairs that he knew was public knowledge somewhere on the internet (not that Steve even considered looking for it. He wasn’t actually that curious, and Tony looked pleasantly surprised when he admitted it). 

Tony looked back at him, eyebrows raising, waiting like he had no idea what Steve wanted to say. When Steve squeezed his fingers, the other man looked down between then and stared.

Steve felt his neck tingle and his jaw tighten. He wanted to draw Tony’s attention to the fact that their hands were clasped together, blatantly, for every pair of eyes in the area to see. After that, he didn’t know what he wanted to happen. Since they hadn’t talked about what they wanted the public to know or not know, they could brush it off like it never happened, that everyone there had a vivid imagination. If Tony wanted to. 

Because Steve didn’t want to act like it wasn’t happening - it was. Neither of them had noticed they were still holding hands all the way to the balloon. It felt completely natural, and comforting, even, given Steve’s current amount of anxiety about where they were. 

 

They stood in silence for a few more seconds, Tony staring at their hands and Steve staring at him waiting and holding his breath. His voice was quiet and he spoke quick when he finally said something.

“Do you want me to not?” Steve nearly choked when he could breathe again, relieved with those few words. He squeezed Tony’s hand again, making him look up at him.

“I want to. Honestly.” Tony squinted at him behind his sunglasses, fingers stretching and moving in Steve’s own hand before he laced his own fingers between Steve’s.

“Not afraid Captain America’s image would be..” Steve cut him off, quick, before Tony could even dream of finishing.

“Don’t.” His mouth snapped shut, so Steve continued. “Captain America will still be Captain America, Tony. I’m not afraid of anything.” They paused for a moment, eyes locked together, they could almost share each other’s breath. Then Tony muttered.

“But you’re afraid of the balloon?” Tony looked at him with the same mask of seriousness and a playful jest to his voice; it took Steve a second to realize he was trying to cover up every anxiety and fear that they just tried to confront a second before. 

He let it go. For another time. 

Instead, his head lolled back as he closed his eyes and let out another light laugh. “Damnit Tony.”

“Mister Stark? Mister Amer.. Uh Rogers?” The voice behind them startled them, and Tony looked up at Steve with a little squint as he muttered, ‘Mister America??’, before turning around with a too pleasant ring to his voice.

“Yeah?”

“The balloon is all set and ready for take off. We just need to go over basic safety instructions and you’ll be in the air.” Tony squeezed his hand behind him. Steve squeezed back and swallowed the sudden lump in his throat as he looked at the basket.

“Great.” They were moving, Steve just one step behind him as they walked forwards towards the open basket’s door. The soldier took a deep breath as he watched Tony step inside and half turn to gently pull him up the step. “I gotchya Cap.” He mumbled between the two of them as Steve tried to find the sturdiest place to stand. His shoulders squared when he heard the door snap shut and Tony gently let go of his hand so he could flatten his palms over Steve’s broader shoulders. Under his breath, he heard Tony again, “We can still get off.” For a second, he felt like Tony meant something else entirely.

Slowly, he exhaled and shook his head. “No. No. We’re here.” He looked Tony dead in the eyes and one of his hands found a place on his waist; Tony nearly jumped out of his skin and snapped his attention up to Steve’s face again. “We’re doing this.” He tried not to sound as nervous as the knot in his stomach was twisting felt. He felt his brain short circuit for a second when Tony wiggled where he stood and gave him a pointed look from above the top rims of his sunglasses and spoke.

“Captain Rogers, there are children present.” Steve had half a mind to be vaguely offended, but he was mostly confused before he looked over to see two workers crammed into opposite corners of the basket, staring at them. The soldier’s jaw dropped as the younger one squeaked, probably just as confused and alarmed as Steve was.

“Please. We’re all consenting adults here.”

“Oh my -god-, Paul.”

“What?!” 

Tony was laughing, Steve’s face felt like it was on fire. Maybe he’d throw himself off the side of the basket? As if reading his mind, both of Tony’s hands found the soldier’s face. He was grinning, and Steve couldn’t help but smile with him

“Hey - no take-backs.” It sounded like a half scold and another joke. “You’re stuck on this ride with me.”

Without thinking, Steve leaned forwards from between Tony’s hands and gently nudged their faces together, pushing his own lips over Tony’s. He heard Tony’s breath catch in his throat as he stilled underneath Steve’s hand on his waist. The knot in Steve’s stomach was gone and the morning breeze blew passed them, gently wrapping them in warm summer air. He felt Tony’s hands around the back of his neck and shoulders, wrapping himself around the broader man into the kiss and Steve about melted at the careful and tender way he moved. 

When he finally pulled back, he opened his eyes and stared. Tony gasped, like he was learning how to breath again. His cheeks were pink and mouth was open slightly like he was looking for something to say and actually couldn’t find it for once. So, with a small, geeky smile, Steve found some for him.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


End file.
